'Peripheral nerves integrated.'
A faint buzzing sound filled the air as Carl reopened his eyes, imdiately eting the concerned gazes of Jack, Oliver, and Old Vic, who stood by the operating table.
It seed the procedure was complete.
"How do you feel? Everything alright?" Jack asked, hesitating as he reached out to touch Carl's face before pulling his hand back. "It looks... exactly the sa as before."
"The behavioral synchronization faceplate hasn't been activated yet," Vic replied, his eyes fixed on the monitor beside the operating table.
"This tech is fascinating," Vic continued, adjusting a few settings. "It doesn't just alter facial features—it even changes voice patterns. Must be modifying the vocal cords on output. The fact that it does this without implants in the throat is impressive. Military Tech's research never disappoints... Just hang on, Carl. I'll set up a few pre-configured face profiles and save them for you."
"Is this part of the process complicated?" Oliver asked, a little concerned that they might ss up Carl's face.
"It's ridiculously easy," Vic reassured him with a chuckle. "We're not trying to make Carl impersonate soone, which would require adjusting his facial expressions and body language to match. We're just tweaking his existing features—think of it like a small-scale costic procedure, except the implant is doing it all by itself."
"Will I be able to get my original face back, Vic?" Carl asked, pressing a hand against his cheek. It felt exactly like his real skin.
"Of course. Since you don't have any weird implants on your face—no synthetic skin or anything—it's a simple reversal. If you had any of that stuff, I'd have to peel and reattach it manually. But lucky for you, keeping things natural has its perks. Whenever you don't need this implant anymore, I can just make a small incision and remove it. Might hurt a bit, though—so nerve terminals are involved... You get the idea. Oliver explained all this to you already, didn't he?"
"Yeah, but I trust you more, Vic. Honestly, this implant sounds better than I expected."
"Yeah, it's like wearing a high-tech mask, way better than those implants that replace entire body parts."
"That's a relief."
"Still, there is a minor side effect."
Carl had just started to relax when Vic suddenly changed his tone, his expression turning serious.
That single sentence made Carl, Jack, and Oliver all tense up instantly.
Imdiately after, as the three of them tensed up, Vic's serious expression lted into a grin.
"It's nothing serious—just that your face will be covered by the implant for a while. When you finally take it off, you might be a bit pale from the lack of sunlight. Try not to get mistaken for a vampire and end up getting hunted down at night."
Hearing Vic's amused tone, the three nearly flipped him off for the scare.
"Tch, even if a vampire hunter ca after , I'd be the one taking them down," Carl scoffed.
Rubbing his face again, confirming it still felt exactly the sa, Carl leaned forward and glanced at the screen Vic was operating. "Vic, since we're tweaking my face anyway, how about making even more handso?"
"You already look good, Carl," Oliver said, rolling his eyes. "What, trying to make yourself irresistible to the ladies? You're not enrolling in this academy to pick up chicks. What's your plan? Seduce them, get intel in bed? That'd make you the next 'Loverboy' Lance Locke."
"Your current face is already well-known within Arasaka," Vic comnted as he adjusted the screen, lowering Carl's eye position slightly. "If you stand out too much, it'll attract too much attention. Let make a few subtle adjustnts."
"So you're saying I'm too handso?" Carl grinned.
"Listen to this guy's ego," Jack chuckled. "Honestly, Carl, if you ever get tired of being a rc, you should consider becoming a celebrity. With that face and your constant bullshit, you'd be pretty damn popular."
"You an those walking heaps of cyberware, dressed in mismatched outfits, strutting around like fashion disasters? No thanks. I have no interest in becoming entertainnt's version of Adam Smasher."
"You an Lizzy Wizzy?" Oliver chid in. "I've listened to so of her tracks before. Gotta admit, her concerts in braindance format are insane."
[Lizzy Wizzy]: The frontwoman of Lizzy Wizzy and the tadwarves, and the only human mber of the band. She once committed suicide on stage and actually died for an hour until Trauma Team arrived and replaced her entire body with cyberware, bringing her back to life. The performance she gave afterward is considered one of the greatest shows in history.
"There's a lot of speculation around that event," Vic interjected. "So say that 'one hour' was really just the ti it took to stabilize her. Trauma Team arrived within a minute, swapped in pre-prepped cyberware, and got her back up. I an, based on my dical experience, reviving soone who's been clinically dead for a full hour has about the sa odds as a space shuttle falling out of the sky and also carrying the President of New USA."
Carl, Oliver, and Jack all turned to look at Vic in mild surprise.
"What?" Vic asked, briefly looking up from his work, confused by their reactions.
After a mont of silence, Oliver finally spoke, looking incredulous. "Vic, you actually know about this stuff? I thought all you cared about was boxing matches. You've been watching the sa damn fights on repeat—I figured you didn't give a damn about celebrities."
"She's one of the most famous singers in Night City," Vic replied matter-of-factly. "Kinda hard not to know about her. I've had plenty of clients rambling about her while I worked—good and bad. Hear enough, and you start rembering. What, you guys think I'm so ancient relic?"
Vic finally stopped working and turned the screen toward them.
"Alright, take a look. I've pre-set four different face profiles. Carl, pick one you like and try it out."
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